Blogs and Commentary

Monday Notebook: MCLA Division II

I'm always hesitant to root for a team coming off of a
suspension, but I think I'll make an exception for Western
Washington. The Vikings were kept out of the postseason last spring
due to an unfortunate incident that didn't directly involve any of
the current players (nor last year's seniors), but had enough of
the program's fingerprints on it to mandate that the school ban it
from PNCLL tournament play.

For a lot of teams, that would mean lights out. Expecting kids
to not only play, but also pay substantial dues, without the
potential gratification of a league tourney? Unlikely. No one would
have been particularly surprised if the WWU enterprise just folded
up shop until things blew over.

Not this group.

Not only are the Vikings the presumptive favorite to win the
PNCLL's automatic qualifier, especially after knocking off
conference vanguard Western Oregon earlier in the season, but the
march to Greenville is almost entirely on their own nickel. One of
the lingering sanctions imposed by the school from last year's
contretemps is a halving of the institutional funding for the
lacrosse team. As such, it has made the players further buy in to
the program, and its quest to travel to Greenville.

Literally.

"If we had to make the trip tomorrow, we'd be in a tight spot,"
said Western Washington head coach Avram Feld, about going to
nationals. "We plan on doing some fundraising and we'll probably
need the guys to increase their dues a little bit. They're all
aware of that. Not only have we taken a lot of trips, including
hopefully a big one to Greenville, but we haven't received the same
amount of support from the school. As a result, it has forced us to
double the player dues."

WWU is clearly a team that is willing to put its money where its
mouth is. The leader of the team is senior middie Colin Gaddy, who
is currently second on the team in points (28g, 4a).

"He's really the heart of our team," said Feld. "The team has a
lot of confidence in him when the ball's in his stick. Both of our
overtime wins [against UC Santa Cruz and D-I Portland State], he's
gotten the game-winner both times with basically a standard iso
from up top. He's the guy that the team and the coaches have the
most confidence in."

Considering the seed they're likely to get, it easy to dismiss
Western Washington as a footnote for this first championship in
Greenville. Alas, this is a team that is willing to ante up for the
good of the MCLA. As such, everyone without an affiliation should
be rooting for the Vikings in May.

- I spoke with Cal State-Fullerton head coach Kyle Morrison and
the topic of how many bids the SLC would receive this year. I
thought the conference was looking at least two, and possibly a
third depending on how things played out in the rest of the
conferences. Morrison disagreed, mostly on the basis that for the
past three seasons the Titans have gone into the national
tournament as one of the bottom seeds.

Morrison's point: if the SLC was slotted so poorly in the
past, how could it sustain a pair of bids now? It's a legitimate
issue, but there is no question that with the introduction of Grand
Canyon and the rise of Concordia, the SLC is a much different
league than even last year.

The frustration with paying thousands of dollars to travel to
nationals only to get a match-up with one of the top teams in the
country – and ultimately play just one game – has led
to Fullerton contemplating a move to MCLA Division I.

"We play five divisional games and in the bottom two-thirds of
our conference the games were 20-2," Morrison said. "The guys on my
team are sick and tired of budgeting for South Carolina or Denver
and losing in the first round. Money is so tight and we would like
to buy the gear and have some fun and go on some trips instead of
setting aside $15,000 and our budget is only $60,000. That's a
pretty substantial chunk. I've got quotes on flights and it's
$8,000 one-way, so we don't have enough money to get there and get
back! Now I've got to figure it out. To potentially go there, be a
No. 15 seed and go out in the first round."

The belief is playing in Division I will provide better
competition, and give Fullerton the most bang for its buck. And
it's not like the Titans can't handle the move. They beat San Diego
and took San Diego State to four overtimes. Still,
the transition is not set in stone.

"It's on the books for discussion at the end of season
conference meetings in May," Morrison said. "I'm going to have
another discussion with the team and see what they want to do. I'm
not sure."

- Anyone up for a mock bracket? I thought you might be. Here's
what I'm thinking if the selection committee went to work after
Sunday's late games. The last AQ is a crapshoot at this point. I
went with St. Mary's, but that could change quickly.

- Davenport is starting to round into form. The Panthers waxed
D-I Wisconsin and then followed it up with a tidy, 8-4 win over St.
John's. Don't write off DU quite yet...championship teams don't
give up 20 goals. I've got to wonder about Dayton...the win over
Westminster was the marquee game of the weekend, but the trap-game
victory over Concordia tells me St. Thomas is locked in...Northern
Colorado has played a schedule second to none, but you've got to
win one of the key games along the way....starting to think Coastal
Carolina could win the SELC...Indiana Tech needed to beat North
Dakota State to get in the discussion...wrote a feature on Westminster's Matt Hearn on
Friday.